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Topix Dinosaur Forum Wiki:Manual of Style
Following the discovery of a number of pages written in biased fashion, I'm making revisions to our Manual of Style. All members should refer to this page before writing an article. Template All user-related article should begin with a template. It has come to my attention that some users seem to have trouble using templates, so for convenience I've posted one as a guide below. Simply copy and paste this template if you have trouble, and fill in the information. Remember to use " " on the line directly after the end to make the template work. infobox |Box title = Username |image = Their most recent avatar. Write as "File:(File name).(file type, i.e. jpg, png etc.) |Row 1 title = Arrived |Row 1 info = The date they registered or the date of their first posts. |Row 2 title = Left |Row 2 info = When they stopped posting or announced their departure (if applicable). |Row 3 title = Websites |Row 3 info = Any of the forums used by the community that the member has posted in. |Row 4 title = Specialty |Row 4 info = The types of posts they make, and any interests or skills. |Row 5 title = Affiliation |Row 5 info = Whether the user contributes or trolls. *Any contributor/troll groups and organizations they have joined. Remember to enter the template using the Source option, as using the Visual option will cause the template to break. You can alternate between Source and Visual mode simply by clicking on the tabs at the top right of the editing space. Introduction Any article should begin with an introduction (without a heading). It would be preferable if the introduction was not too long; anything between two sentences and a couple of paragraphs will do fine. Begin a user-related article by summarizing who they are and what they do. You may discuss how valuable their contributions are, or how much chaos they caused as a troll. Begin an article about a website by summarizing the topics it covers, when it was made, who founded it, and if it is active or not. Once again, anything longer than two paragraphs for the introduction is probably too long. History The history of the user or website should be written down after the introduction. Describe the arrival of the user or creation of the website, the goings on on the website or the events that the user took part in, and how the user or website changed over time. It's usually simple and straightforward enough. If the user or website has a long history, you might want to divide it up into subsections. More on subsections will be discussed later. If you weren't with the community for some going on, either ask someone who was or skip the section and let someone else fill it in. Personality and Skills Conclude a user-related article by discussing their personality and skills- what they're interested in and what sort of discussions they take part in; whether they're carefully neutral or have strong opinions, and the general opinion of the community on the user in question. This last bit is a little tricky; you need to take extra care to make sure that you do not write off your own opinions as the general opinion of the community. For the most part, this should be obvious (Stygimoloch is respected as a very valuable contributor; Pincus Shain is remembered as the most successful troll on Topix), but when in doubt it's fine to let someone else fill in the section. Headings and Subheadings Images Classification of contributors and trolls